Cuts To Home Mental Health Care Risky

My full-time job is with a mobile crisis team for the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. We respond to calls made by patients, their friends and family members. We go people's homes to evaluate their mental status and determine whether they can safely remain in their homes or need to go to the hospital.

Calls are made to us by visiting/home care nurses as well. These agencies are being subjected to a 15 percent cut in state payments for their services. They serve as the eyes and ears of the mobile crisis unit, which in turn serves as the safety net for the vacuum that was created with the closing of the state hospitals. It is a flexible yet effective system that for the most part serves the patients and the community well.

The importance of our jobs is at times understated, yet their impact is a solid maintenance of order in the community and the health care system. Financial cuts to my department and also to the home health care agencies render the services less effective and leave the mentally ill in a vulnerable position, creating a danger for the patients and for the community.